Radio Bar-Kulan (Somali Clandestine Station)

Radio Bar-Kulan / Meeting Place, a Somali clandestine station  transmitting from Meyerton, South Africa, was monitored on 29 April 2011 from 16.45 to 16.58 UTC (normal broadcast time from 16.00 to 17.00 UTC) on 9.930 kHz. Programming consisted of news, commentary on current events and music in the Somali language which is beamed to Somalia and Somali Diaspora worldwide.

A weak signal with discernible speech and  moderate QRN provided an overall reception (SINPO) of 25332. 

Reception report was submitted by email. QSL-letter from SENTEC was received by mail on 5 October 2011.

Website:

www.bar-kulan.com/category/news-in-english/

Email: 

contactE@bar-kulan.com 

Radio France Internationale

Radio France Internationale sent a letter acknowledging my reception report of 14 0ctober 2010 had been received, but no indication whether the report had been "confirmed". The letter also mentioned new English language broadcast times.  Along with the letter, I received a large Radio France Internationale sticker and English language times, frequencies and FM stations for Africa.

The Voice of Tibet (via Talata, Madagascar)

The Voice of Tibet, a clandestine station sponsored by the Oslo-based Voice of Tibet Foundation, broadcasting via Talata, Madagascar was heard on 26 April 2011 from 14.00 to 14.30 UTC on 17.560 kHz. Tibetan language programme featured  news/commentary.


Reception was very strong at (SINPO) 43554, except for some interference from an adjacent station broadcasting Chinese music in attempt to drown out the broadcast; I note this as the same music was played on previous nights.


Signal was best received on my Grundig Satellit 500. It locked on to the Voice of Tibet's signal, whereas my Grundig Satellit 750 and Sangean ATS-909 received the interfering station's signal more clearly. Reception report was sent by email and post. QSL card arrived in the mail from India on 26 November 2011.  

POSTSCRIPT: 14 NOVEMBER 2011
Tenzin Peldon, Editor-in-Chief for Voice of Tibet, emailed this message after sending several emails to VOT, regarding my request for their QSL card: "Please accept our apology for not being able to write back to you. We have our reasons but I know there are no excuses. We don't have an eQSL right now so a normal QSL would be posted to you as ASAP. Thank you for your mail and all the best with your work."



Address:
Voice of Tibet
Audience Relations, 
Narthang Building, 
Gangchen Kyishiong, 
Dharmasala-176215, Himachal Pradesh,
India

Email: 
editor@vot.org 
info@vot.org 
oystalme@gmail.com

WEWN (EWTN) -- Alabama, USA

WEWN (EWTN - Eternal Word Television Network) in Irondale, Alabama, USA was heard on 23 April 2011 and monitored between 10.30-11.57 UTC -- actual broadcast time is 10.00-11.57 UTC -- on 9.390 kHz. Programme format consisted of Catholic religious shows, frequent station IDs and station announcements.

Signal (SINPO) at 10.30 UTC was 14441 -- very weak and barely discernible speech, yet no apparent inference or fading;  at 11.15 UTC reception was 14341 -- still poor with increased QRN and indecipherable speech at times; from 11.30 UTC onward QRN  worsened.

Reception report was submitted by e-mail and mail. QSL card was received on 30 May 2011.

Address:

Radio Station WEWN

EWTN
5817 Old Leeds Rd.
Irondale, Al. 35210-2164

USA

Email:

viewer@ewtn.com

Website:

www.ewtn.com/radio/index.asp

Addendum to WWCR - Tennessee, USA

WWCR in Nashville, Tennessee, USA was heard last night, 22 April 2011, around 16.45 UTC on 15.825 kHz. Signal strength (SINPO) was 25432 with speech sufficiently audible to allow identification of individual programmes, unlike the previous night when it was poorly received at 15211. Nevertheless,  the signal is significantly degraded after 18.00 UTC in my corner of the world whether I'm using the Sangean ATS-909, Grundig Satellit 750 or Grundig Satellit 500. 

WWCR - Tennessee, USA

WWCR in Nashville, Tennessee, USA was heard on 20 April 2011. Evangelical Christian programming in English was monitored from 17.00 to 17.30 UTC and 18.45 to 19.00 UTC on 15.825 kHz. During this time their signal (SINPO) was extremely weak and affected by heavy QRN. Daily broadcast times are from 11.00 to 21.00 UTC.

The station was received with my Sangean ATS-909 and Degen DE-1102 linked to an external 1/4 wave aerial. My Grundig Satellit 500 and Grundig Satellit 750 detected the signal, but the Sangean and Degen had better clarity. 

Reception reports were posted on two occasions. The second time I sent along one International Reply Coupon. This particular QSL card is for the subsequent report submitted on 18 July 2011. The card arrived in the mail on 19 August 2011. 

Address:
WWCR Shortwave
1300 WWCR Avenue
Nashville, Tenessee 37218
USA

Website:
http://www.wwcr.com/

The Voice of Armenia

The Voice of Armenia (Public Radio of Armenia) in Yeravan, the Republic of Armenia was monitored on 19 April 2011 between 18.00 to 18.30 UTC on 4.810 kHz. An Arabic language broadcast was heard with mostly talk and a few vocal songs. All India Radio in Mumbai generally occupies this frequency before 17.45 UTC.


Unfortunately their signal (SINPO) was extremely weak and marred by heavy QRN and fading at 15111. To say the least, their signal was barely audible, save for music and the voice of a male announcer.

The transmission was received best on a Grundig Satellit 500, using a simple external 10 meter random wire aerial. Signal was also detected with Sangean ATS-909, using a 1/4 wave aerial elevated at a height of 10 meters. My Grundig Satellit 750/Tecsun S-2000  was virtually deaf with  the 1/4 aerial set up.

Reception report was submitted by mail and email. QSL is pending.

Address: 
Public Radio of Armenia 
Voice of Armenia
5 Alex Manoocian Streel 
25 Yeravan, Republic of Armenia


Email:
ak@arradio.am


Website:
www.armradio.am

Radio Japan - March 2011 QSL

Here's another QSL card from Radio Japan, NHK World, I received in the mail just today. It is for a reception report logged on 12 March 2011 at 10.00-10.30 UTC on 9.605 kHz from their Yamata transmitter site. This particular reception report was submitted during extended news coverage of the tsunami / earthquake / nuclear reactor disaster. 

Radio Miraya FM - Sudan

Radio Miraya FM, sponsored by the United Nations Mission in Sudan and Fondation Hirondelle, was heard in the Arabic language on 17 April 2011. Broadcast time was from 14.00 to 17.00 UTC, but was monitored from 15.30 to 17.00 UTC. The signal on 15.710 kHz  was  45544 (SINPO) -- strong and clear with slight fading, which is great considering the transmitter site is supposedly in Slovakia, not Sudan per se. Programming format entailed news and sports, commentary on current events in Sudan and frequent station IDs. Radio Nederland's interval signal was logged at 16.59 UTC on the same frequency, just before sign-off.

While searching the Internet for an address to Radio Miraya FM -- not available on their website by the way  -- I noticed a QSL card was received by a Japanese short-wave listener. The address on the card was from Fondation Hirondelle. Subsequently, I submitted a reception report on-site to Fondation Hirondelle at: www.hirondelle.org/contact/ and posted a letter as well to this organisation. QSL card arrived promptly on 5 May 2011. 

Address:

Fondation Hirondelle

Avenue du Temple 19c

CH 1012 Lausanne

Switzerland

Website:

www.mirayafm.org/

Radio Veritas Asia - Philippines

Radio Veritas Asia in Quezon City, Philippines was logged on 15 April 2011 at 10.00 to 10.30 UTC on 11.850 kHz. Catholic religious programming in the Khmer language was heard, followed by a broadcast in Vietnamese at 10.30 UTC. 

Reception report was sent by email from their website and mail. QSL card and other items were received on 31 May 2011. 

Address:
Radio Veritas Asia
P.O. Box 2642
Buick Street
Fairview Park 
Quezon City 1166
Philippines


Website:
www.rveritas-asia.org

Middle Eastern Stations

The following Middle Eastern stations were received strongly on 12 April 2011: 

RTV Morocaine on 15.345 kHz at 15.00-22.00 UTC (monitored from19.00 to19.15 UTC)  in Arabic with News, Azan for afternoon prayers and music.

RTV Tunisia on 9.725 kHz at 17.00-20.10 UTC (monitored over many nights from 17.00 to 20.10 UTC) in Arabic with Arabic pop music and commentary.

Voice of Greece  on 15.630 kHz at 1.00-23.00 (monitored from 18.45 to1 21.15 UTC) in Greek with Greek pop songs. Strong signal heard until about 21.00 UTC, which while still audible was gradually marred in static.

Trans World Radio Europe (Germany and Austria)

TWR in Wertachtal, Germany

Trans World Radio (TWR) Europe was monitored on 13 April 2011  between 15.29-15.59 UTC on 9.440 kHz (transmitter site in Wertachtal Germany) and 11.700 kHz (transmitter site in Moosbrunn, Austria). Station interval was heard at 15.59 UTC followed by religious commentary in Armenian and instrumental music.

Signal (SINPO) on 11.700 kHz was 45444 - very strong and clear reception with slight fading; signal was much stronger on 9.440 kHz at 55545.

A reception report was submitted by email and mail. Kolman Dobos (see email address below) notified me by email that QSLs were on the way. QSLs arrived in a single envelop on 15 June 2011. 

TWR in Moosbrunn, Austria

Address: 
TWR - Europe
Postfach 141
A-1235 
Vienna, Austria




Website:
http://www.twreurope.org/


Email:
twre@twr.org
kdobos@twr.org 

Radio Azadi

Radio Azadi  (Radio Free Afghanistan)  was heard on 12 April 2011 between 11.30 and 12.30 UTC on 15.090 kHz. Signal (SINPO) was 25342 -- speech was audible despite a weak signal

Programming was in the Dari language and entailed a largely talk/commentary format, with an occasional Hindi-style pop song. After 12.30 UTC programming switched to Pashtu language.

Reception report was sent by email and mail. Radio Azadi was contacted on two previous occasions, yet no QSL card was delivered. In fact, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty affiliated stations have been pretty much deaf to any communication submitted. 

Address:

Radio Azadi

P.O. Box 1471

Central Post Office

Kabul, Afghanistan

Email:

mudaqiqa@rferl.org

Website:

http://origin.azadiradio.org/

Radio Mashaal

Radio Mashaal (an affiliate of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) was monitored on 12 April 2011 between 12.00-13.00 UTC on 15.360 kHz. Signal (SINPO) was 45444 -- clear and discernible speech with light QRN. The transmitter site is located in Sri Lanka.

Programming was largely talk/commentary orientated and targeted to Pashtun speakers in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Reception report was submitted by post and email.

Email:

radiomashaal@rfe.com

Voice of Korea - Pyongyang

The Voice of Korea in Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) was monitored on 8 April 2011 between 11.00 and 12.00 UTC on 11.735 kHz. Broadcast was in the French language and featured a largely talk/commentary format, interspersed with 'Revolutionary' inspired music.

Signal (SINPO) was very strong and clear using my venerable old Grundig Satellit 500. It was linked to a 10 meter elevated 1/4 wave aerial with a 50 ohm coaxial cable fed through an MFJ-956 antenna tuner.

Although the Voice of North of Korea has been QSLed and is heard regularly in Malaysia, I have opted for a recent QSL card from them. Reception report was sent by mail. QSL card was received on 20 July 2011, along with a pennant, lapel pin, newspaper and cultural magazine.

Address: 
The Voice of Korea
Pyongyang, 
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)

Email:
vok@star-co.net.kp

Galei Zahal - Israel

Galei Zahal (Israel Defence Forces Radio) in Zahal, Israel was monitored in Malaysia on 11 April 2011 from 14.00 to 15.15 UTC on 15.850 kHz. The video below was made at 16.30 UTC on 27 April 2011, to date the best reception of Galei Zahal in my location. 


Signal (SINPO) at 14.00  UTC was 15111. Transmission was detected, but extremely weak with a lot of QRN and at times undiscerned speech; at 15.00 signal was much clearer, but still very weak at 25111.

Programming  was in Hebrew and consisted of a talk/commentary format with occasional interviews or on-location coverage, hosted by female and male announcers. A station announcement or advertisement was heard just before 15.00 UTC, then news followed on the hour.

Receivers used to monitor the broadcast included a Sangean ATS-909, a Grundig Satellit 750 and Grundig Satellit 500. While all three radios logged this purportedly 10 kw transmitter, the Sangean ATS-909 had better sensitivity, followed by the Grundig Satellit 750 and Grundig 500. The radios were linked to a 10 meter elevated 1/4 wave aerial with a 50 ohm coaxial cable, which was fed through an MFJ-956 antenna tuner.


Video recorded on 27 April 2011 (using a Tecsun S-2000/Grundig Satellit 750)

Reception report for QSL card was sent by email and mail shortly after 11 April 2011. Galei Zahal issued QSL on 2 May 2011. Lost somewhere on the postal seas, it arrived in the mail on 21 November 2011.

Address:

Galei Zahal
Israel Defence Forces
Military Post Office 1005
Zahal, Israel

Email:

glz@galatz.co.il

Voice of Turkey - March 2011 QSL

Adiyaman regional folk dance known as Galuc

Voice of Turkey in Ankara, Turkey sent a QSL card today, 8 April 2011. It was for their 5 March 2011 broadcast on 11.735 kHz, between 13.30-14.25 UTC.

Radio Kuwait - August 2010 QSL

Radio Kuwait in  Sufat, Kuwait was logged on 12 August 2010 at 05.00-07.00 UTC on 15.515 kHz.

QSL card  finally arrived today,  8 April 2011. This distinctive QSL card is embossed in gold and approximately the size of a certificate. It arrived with a cover letter, a tourist brochure of Kuwait and three post cards. 

Earlier this year, in January 2011, I received two desktop calendars and pocket calendar from Radio Kuwait. MashaAllah!!! Needless to say I am impressed. 

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty was heard on 4 April 2011, broadcasting in Russian on 5.990 kHz from 18.00-19.00 UTC and Belarusian on 5.995 kHz from 19.00-22.00 UTC. Signal (SINPO) was 25432 -- very weak, but nevertheless with audible speech.





Address: 
RFE/RL
Vinohradska 159A
100 00 Prague 10
Czech Republic

WWVH - Hawaii, USA

WWVH in: Kekaha, Kauai, Hawaii (USA) was logged on  31 March 2011 at 14.00 UTC (generally signal is heard 24 hours). It was monitored on 2.500 kHz (not audible at 14.00 UTC), 5.000 kHz  (audible at 14.00 UTC), 10.000 kHz  (audible at 14.00 UTC) and 15.000 khz (not audible at 14.00 UTC).

Signal (SINPO) was 45444 on 10.000 kHz with light QRN, otherwise a strong signal and clearly discernible speech; on 5.000 kHz reception was 44554. Female announcer provided frequencies, address and time  from WWVH, stating "At the tone 14 hours coordinated universal time...".

Although I have heard this ubiquitous 10 kw station on many occasions and QSLed it from the United States (Denver, Colorado) in the 1970s, I couldn't resist the opportunity to try QSLing it this time from Malaysia. Reception report was mailed on 1 April 2011.  


POSTSCRIPT (27 April 2011): 
I received an email from WWVH stating reception report has been verified. See note below:

"Thank you for your reception report and your interest in WWVH.This is to notify you that a QSL card for your reception report will be mailed today.

Aloha,

Adela Mae P. Ochinang
NIST-WWVH Secretary"


POSTSCRIPT (13 May 2011)
QSL card recived in mail on 13 May 2011, along with a photocopy of a flyer about the history of WWVH.

Radio Portugal International - Lisbon

Radio Portugal International in Lisbon, Portugal was monitored on 9.820 kHz from 20.00-22.00 UTC on 3 April 2011. Signal was very strong with slight interference from CRI after 21.00 UTC. Normally the transmission time is 20.00-21.00 UTC, but was extended due to  football coverage of the Argentina vs Brazil match.

I logged this broadcast after receiving an e-mail notifying me of RTP's current transmission frequencies and times, effective from 31 March 2011 onward. In response to their e-mail I submitted the above reception report  by e-mail to paula.teixeira @ rtp.pt and mail.

POSTSCRIPT (14 May 2011):

QSL card received in the mail today, along with a letter mentioning possible and temporary suspension of short-wave service. Programme schedule for 2011 was included as well.